Sabudana Khichdi

5 from 1 vote

Sabudana Khichdi is a delicious, filling breakfast or meal option made with Sago pearls and a few basic spices. With barely 9 ingredients, this is a fast, easy recipe. It's very popular during Navratri as a fasting recipe.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Hindu, Vegetarian

Servings: people

Author: Richa

Ingredients

1 cup Sabudana approx 180 grams Sago pearls
1 cup Water for soaking
1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
1 teaspoon Jeera Cumin Seeds
1/2 cup diced Potato cut into 1/3 inch cubes
2 sprig Curry Leaves
1 Green Chilli, finely chopped
1/4 cup crushed roasted Peanuts skin removed
3/4 teaspoon Salt or sendha namak if making it for fasting
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Lime Juice
2 tablespoons chopped Coriander

Instructions

Wash 1 cup sabudana well in running water to remove any extra starch and soak it in 1 cup water overnight or for 8 hours.
To check if the sabudana is sufficiently soaked, press a pearl between your fingers and it should smash easily. Drain the sabudana after soaking to get rid of any excess water and set aside. This is an optional step - I've never had to do this.
Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds or jeera. Once they start spluttering, add chopped potatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Saute the potatoes and cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes till tender.
Add curry leaves and green chillies and saute for another minute.
Add soaked sabudana, crushed peanuts, remaining salt and sugar and mix well. Cook for a few minutes - about 3-4 minutes on a low flame until the sabudana starts to turn translucent.
Turn off the flame, add lime juice and chopped coriander and give it another quick mix. Serve hot.

Notes

Wash Sabudana well to get rid of any excess starch under running water in a colander
Soak it in a 1:1 ratio of Sabudana to water. So for one cup of sabudana you need a cup of water. The water should just cover the sabudana.
Soak overnight for best results. I've seen recipes where sabudana is soaked for 2-4 hours but after a lot of trial, overnight gives me best results. Approximately 8 hours is good.
Use crushed peanuts which help reduce the stickiness of sabudana khichdi and also add flavours, fats and protein
Don't overmix after adding the sabudana to the pan. Once you add soaked sabudana, stir it well till everything is mixed and then let it cook on a lot flame for a few minutes. Stirring it over and over again makes the sago pearls clumpy
Don't overcook the khichdi. Cook it for only a few minutes on low flame after mixing the sabudana till they start to turn translucent. If the sabudana overcooks, it'll start sticking to each other

Nutrition